After starting the season with a 2-2 tie against Weymouth High, things have taken a turn for the better for the Silver Lake boys soccer team. Much better, in fact.

The Lakers ran their winning streak to eight games Tuesday afternoon with a 3-0 shutout of Quincy High. The likely suspects were at the top scoring sheet once again. Paul Beatty had two goals and an assist while Sean Hurlbert chipped in with a goal and an assist.

“We weren’t satisfied with the way we started the year against Weymouth, but we’ve played well since that game,” Head Coach Dan Correia said. “I’ve got a lot of returning talent this season and they understand what it’s going to take if we want to be successful.”

Step one on that road to success is manufacturing goals and the Lakers scoring loads of them. Over the last eight wins Silver Lake has outscored the opposition by an astounding 48-3 margin. Seventeen different Lakers have registered at least one point, with sophomore Adam Crawford, Hurlbert and Beatty (16 goals, five assists) at the top of the scoring list.

“Paul has an entirely different gear on the soccer field than most everyone else does,” Correia said, talking about Beatty’s speed. “He’s always been fast, but this season he’s added even more to his game. You can see he’s more physical, stronger and he’s turned into a great finisher.”

Also improved has been the play of goaltender Stephen MacSwain. After watching most of last season from the bench as the back-up keeper, the senior has taken over the starting job this season and has five shutouts over the eight game winning streak.

“We’ve had a big year from Stephen,” Correia said.

MacSwain wasn’t very busy Saturday morning during a 5-1 Homecoming win over Bridgewater-Raynham, but he did come up with a couple of acrobatic saves when needed.

It was a fairly quiet day for the netminder as the Lakers pounded the ball in B-R’s offensive zone and never let up. Beatty got the Lakers out to a quick lead with a score. Several minutes later Hurlbert took over when drove down the sideline, cut across into the box and put a left-footed blast into the top corner of the net for the score.

The lead went to 3-0 before the break when Brendan Nemes set up Hurlbert for a score.

Tim Barrow and Matt Calabro added goals in the second half on the way to the 5-1 victory.

The schedule picks up for the Lakers over the next week. They traveled to Scituate, the leader in the Patriot League Fisher Division, Thursday. They’ve got an important league battle Monday at their biggest Keenan Division challenger, Hingham. before coming back home to battle Duxbury (Wednesday) and Quincy (Friday).